World Series of Fighting to Pay 50 Percent of PPV Revenue to Fighters

In a “game-changing” move the Ultimate Fighting Championship will most certainly not copy, World Series of Fighting announced Tuesday they will dish out 50 percent of net earnings on their pay-per-view shows to the fighters who perform in the broadcast.

WSOF plans on making their PPV debut in the second-half of 2015.

“This is a proud day for the sport of mixed martial arts and our organization and one that we hope will create a better opportunity for the fighters who put everything on the line every time they step inside the cage,” WSOF president Ray Sefo expressed in a statement. “Until now. one of the main things holding this sport back from becoming even bigger than it is today has been fighter compensation and the inability of the sport’s top athletes to earn on par with top-level professional athletes in other sports.

“If fighters can’t earn a fair share of the money at the top, the fighters lose hope or become disenchanted with the sport, which impacts their commitment to training and preparing properly for title fights. That is about to change, thanks to this major step we are taking now fighters will train harder than ever to become a champion giving the fans some epic championship bouts to enjoy.”

WSOF didn’t specify how the athletes on their PPV cards would divvy up the money – whether it will be spit equally or if the featured fighters will take home a larger piece of the pie. The latter scenario would make the most sense, as the stars should be paid more than the opening acts.

Currently, only UFC champions and a handful of non-title holders can earn a portion of the UFC PPV shows in which they perform in. Those percentages are believed to be different for each fighter and not made public, but they are certainly nowhere near half.

The success of WSOF’s new revenue sharing platform could pay huge dividends when it comes time to woo free agents away from the UFC.